The long-term goal of this Research Experience Program for Veterinary Students is to have more veterinary students choose research as a career. The Specific Aims of this Research Experience Program are to: 1) Provide an avenue for veterinary students to interact with biomedical researchers, 2) Involve veterinary students in ongoing high quality medical research, and 3) Educate veterinary students in a variety of research-related topics. Our Research Experience Program will provide summer research experiences for students who have completed their freshman, sophomore or junior year of the curriculum at any U.S. veterinary school. Students will be chosen based on their interest in research, academic performance, and faculty endorsement. In the first year six students will be recruited into the program with plans to expand the program to seven, eight, nine, and nine for years two through five, respectively. Students will be involved in planning and in the actual performance of research during their three-month appointment. Students may do their research experience at the College of Veterinary Medicine at MSU or in the Department of Comparative Medicine at the UAB. During the twelve-week training program all students will spend their first week at MSU and the second week at UAB in educational instruction. Topics to be covered during the two weeks of didactic activities include, but are not limited to, biostatistics and experimental design, ethical conduct of research, humane use of animals in research, and transgenic and gene knockout mouse model development. Upon completion of the training program each student will give a 15 to 20 minute presentation of his or her research in our Summer Research Experience Day. Students will be asked to respond to a variety of questions in an effort to assess the effectiveness of the educational aspects and impact of the program on their future career choice. The College of Veterinary Medicine at MSU is committed to ensuring the success of this program as evidenced by a commitment of just over $23,000 of their own financial resources in the form of stipend supplements and living allowances over the five-year lifetime of the training program.